So we were driving along when we came across a doe by the side of the road. Not an unusual sight for anyone familiar with Vermont or Michigan, but she didn’t immediately bolt when we slowed down. Actually, she just sort of slowly wandered her way back into the woods, even while we opened the window and snapped a few photos then changed lenses and snapped a few more.
Okay, not the greatest shot, but how often do you get close enough to a deer to take even this?
Well… a few more miles down the road, that first doe seemed like a scaredy-cat. Three does and two half-grown fawns grazed their way along the roadside, even when we stopped and snapped photos. By “we” I mean Jeffrey, graced with the passenger side and shooting position. Jeffrey can take some great shots (the sepia-toned roadster in the classic cars post was his) but deer are maybe not his best subject, to judge from a lot of out-of-focus photos. But the ever-cooperative deer sat there long enough that Jeffrey got a few lovely shots.
And one, uh, “less” lovely shot, but I had to include it because it’s just so, uh, unique, and besides reminds me so much of Starling. We love you, Starling… even if you are a little overly familiar with your own rear.
We could have gotten several dozen more photos, for all the deer cared. They were still grazing calmly when we left.
Yet even they got showed up by some young buck. No, really, a young buck. While waiting for our order outside a pizzeria, this guy comes sauntering in like he owns the place…
He was completely unconcerned by us, not to mention another couple and their toddler. The toddler asked if she could touch him… mom said no, but I’m not sure the deer would have minded. I didn’t want to touch him, I just wanted to photograph him. Wouldn’t you?
He almost looks wild in this one! No pavement in sight… (shhhh, no one needs to know about the marina storage lot just out of sight…)
This shot is my favorite, just because it hardly required any zoom at all. He was maybe six feet from me.
The guy at the pizzeria said this is normal, that a herd of deer go through there regularly, munching people’s gardening attempts as they go. He didn’t seem to like them much. We should have told him what a tourist attraction they could be! What is it with these Adirondack deer? Don’t they shoot deer in the Adirondacks, too? I mean, besides with cameras…
